by Karine G. Barzegar , Special for USA TODAY

by Karine G. Barzegar , Special for USA TODAY

Six million customers a year pass through the front entrance done in elegant black and white, while inside it's all pink, pop music and perfume.

Shoppers often linger until midnight or even 1 a.m., but that was before a French court last month ordered Sephora to comply with France's strict labor laws and lock its doors at 9 p.m. and never open on Sundays.

Now Sephora is the leader of a battle to overturn longstanding laws it says are harming the French economy and blocking people who want to earn a better living. In doing so it confronts a French tradition going back a century and one that other European countries follow as well.

Many say it's time to let go.

"If people want to work, if it makes the economy work and if it creates wealth, as long as people are volunteering, and they're not being forced to work, then it's not slavery," said Elsa Dadrouzamani, a French tourist from Reunion Island, who was shopping in Sephora with her children.

"They make money, and if they don't want to do it, they don't. Especially in an area like this, if people work till midnight, it should continue this way."

Sephora is part of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH, which owns quintessentially French brands such as MoĂ«t champagne, Hennessy cognac and Louis Vuitton fashion house. But just as French are the labor laws LVMH is coming out against.

With a few exceptions, shops in France have been barred from opening on Sundays and late evenings since 1906. The "Sunday is for rest" rule was to prevent businesses from forcing workers to toil on a day they would prefer to spend on leisure and family.

But the explosive growth of retail as a greater share of the world economy has prompted many businesses to expand store hours to capture profits.

In the United States, few parts of the country enforce "blue laws," the bans on selling certain products such as alcohol on Sundays. And in a country where workers spend more hours than most nations on the job, being able to shop late nights and weekends has become an expected convenience.

But France's powerful labor unions say that big retailers are imposing their own rules and working hours on their employees.

Under the French regulations, the only occupations exempt from the ban on late-night and Sunday working hours are those considered necessities or for the public good such as police officers, doctors and other emergency personnel.

"You need a common day of rest in a society, a day that is shared by everyone," said Karl Ghazi, member of the powerful labor union CGT. "Workers need that time, for their family, for their well-being and for their health. There can be exceptions only if it is absolutely necessary."

But it is critical to improve France's stagnant economy, and that is what expanded shopping hours will do, say its supporters.

LVMH and other retail outlets say they are creating jobs in a country that sorely needs them. The unemployment rate in France is 10.5%. The economy is in a prolonged recession and politicians are desperate for ways to increase economic growth.

In October, "Yes, Week-end!" - which in French sounds like President Obama's 2008 campaign slogan, "Yes, We Can!" - is the mantra of some employees of Castorama and Leroy Merlin, two large French home-improvement chains.

The stores decided to open Sundays despite a $162,000 fine per store per day for doing so. The retailers argued that many French like to work on their homes on weekends and wanted the convenience of shopping for fix-it materials on Sunday. But a competitor Bricorama filed a complaint claiming unfair competitive advantage, and a court agreed.

According to Caroline Hupin, head of the the home-improvement stores' union, these retailers make up to 25% of their revenue and employ about 7,000 people on Sundays.

"We have to face the reality: In France, there are more than 6 million people working on Sundays, not only in hospitals and police stations but also in movie theaters, museums and tourist areas," she said.

"And gardening or improving your house is something people do on Sundays. These retailers are adapting to their consumers' needs, habits and way of life."

Union leaders worry though that consumers don't realize that by allowing big retailers to stay open, Sundays and evenings would become the rule rather than an exception, and trickle down into all sectors of the economy, ultimately forcing many to work on those terms.

And Germany has managed still to become an economic powerhouse despite rules backed by church officials and unions that allow stores to be open only a few Sundays a year.

"Each time you let a retailer open, it has an impact on another sector which then also asks to stay open," said Eric Scherrer, president of the retail employees union.

"Besides, it could destroy small businesses. Mom and pop stores are allowed to stay open on Sundays but they won't be able to compete with giant stores."

Unions are filing an increasing number of complaints over the retail opening hours and the courts are applying the letter of the law to the cases and the companies. With unions, customers and employees grumbling, France's Socialist government has been reluctant to take strong action.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault promised to appoint a commission to examine existing laws and regulations and eliminate legal inconsistencies. But the conservative UMP party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy is taking advantage of the socialists' apparent discomfort at challenging unions, their traditional allies.

It was Sarkozy's government in 2009 that allowed Sunday openings in tourist areas and extended shopping hours for grocery stores and other specialty food retailers, opening the way for others.

"I think it's stupid to ban these businesses from staying open because on weekends, some people need to work, and others want to potter about in their houses and gardens," said William Rusak, a Parisian customer, shopping at Castorama. "I'm busy working during the week and I have a country house, so when I need something, I come here on a Sunday."